The two Thomas’ brothers - Howard 19 and Roberto, 5, and their neighbour - 48-year-old Nazir Mohamed, have been hospitalised at the GPH since the brazen attack two Saturday’s ago, when 11 persons were massacred in the most inhumane and heinous manner by a gang of rampaging gunmen.

The three survivors in that gruesome attack are said to be ‘out of immediate danger’ and are recovering favourably.

Five-year-old Roberto, the youngest of the Thomas family, was shot in his lower abdomen as he slept, and as of yesterday, remained in the Intensive Care Unit of the GPH. His condition, however, has been listed as “much improved”.

The child, who was operated on last week to have three bullets removed from his abdomen, has reportedly been taken off life support systems. He is now chatting and sending messages home requesting sweets and ice-cream, his now widowed mother Gomattie told the Guyana Chronicle.

The grieving mother said it appears that Roberto is getting vague reflections of the shooting in the home on the ill-fated morning, but still does not know that his father, along with his sister and brother had died.

Gomattie said that on Friday last, Roberto asked her for Vanessa and Ronnie – his two siblings that were mowed down by the bullets in that terror attack, and who were laid to rest along-side their father in a mass funeral with other victims on Thursday last.

Admitting that she was not prepared for the question, Gomattie said she impulsively replied that Ronnie had gone to the golf course to play golf and Vanessa was still at school.

Then turning to his mother again, the little child said to her: &#x201Mommy, you go home.” She asked him why, and his reply was, “You got plenty, plenty food fuh cook.”

She admitted that she was immediately gripped by fear, and became troubled, wondering what that statement was leading to.

&#x201CBut I am praying and trusting God that no evil is lurking around,” the distraught mother said, attempting to console herself.

Meanwhile, 19-year-old Howard Thomas (the eldest sibling), was shot in the right shoulder and lower right arm, and was taken to theatre and operated on Thursday – the day of the mass burial.

As his father Clarence 48, sister Vanessa 12 and brother Ron, 11, were being committed to the grave on Thursday, Howard had probably just come out of theatre and was still asleep at the GPH.

Earlier in the day, the teen, shot by a high powered rifle, underwent surgery to repair the shattered bones in his right arm. He is to return to theatre at a later date for further surgical intervention.

Howard was taken to theatre early in the morning, and remained asleep even after he had come out of surgery, and so was abysmally unaware of the stage by stage developments during the day – the funeral services of his father, two siblings and seven others killed in the Lusignan massacre.

He knew of the date of the mass burial, but never requested to be allowed to attend, adding nervously, “I didn’t want to go… I preferred not to.”

With blood still dripping from the wounds in his arm on Friday last, Howard was visibly in great discomfort, even as he tried hard to endure the physical pain and emotional phangs that gripped him.

Psychologically, Howard, who is in need of counselling, tried desperately to shut out every thought associated with the dark episode, and said he did not want to be reminded of it.

Struggling to recover in the aftermath of the heinous slaying, the badly torn and deeply traumatised teen, faintly muttered: &#x201I don’t – just don’t want to remember it.”

He’s a Christian and willingly accepts prayers. Apart from that, he reads the Holy Bible and other literature based on the Word of God, but does not want to see any of the newspapers, moreso the gory publications villagers have been talking about.

His mother Gomattie, brother Mark and other relatives, though themselves torn, continue to provide some measure of emotional support for him, and his brother, in this their time of grief.

Acknowledging that she is constantly haunted by the memory of the bloody attack, Gomattie said the presence of her relatives who travelled from various parts of Guyana to be with her during the funeral of her husband and two children, did a lot to build her strength and courage.

However, the last of the family members returned home on Friday, “and that was when the deaths really drove home to me, and I really began to feel it more,” she related.

She said that doctors from the Georgetown Hospital visited her at home that morning, and remarkably, their presence helped fill that void. The doctors ran tests and gave her tablets.

&#x201CThey counselled and spent a long time with me,” she acknowledged gratefully.

The Thomas’ home was apparently the first attacked by the gunmen on the morning of the massacre.

The family was rudely awakened out of their sleep by a group of heavily armed gunmen that had stormed their home around 2:00 h. The men broke the door down, and shot and killed Howard’s father - 48-year-old father Clarence, who was bracing the door from behind, trying to keep them out.

They then turned their guns on Howard’s 12-year-old sister Michelle and 11-year old Ron who were asleep, killing them both. Five-year-old Roberto - the youngest child, was shot in the lower abdomen, but fortunately did not die. Three bullets were removed from the wound.

The third survivor of the massacre hospitalised is Mr. Nazir Mohamed 48, of Lot 26 Lusignan – three doors away from the Thomas’ family. Mohamed, who was shot in both legs, is still in hospital recovering slowly. His 22-year-old son, Shazam, was killed on the spot, and was the first of the eleven persons slain to have been buried.

He was buried at the Good Hope Cemetery last Tuesday, following a funeral service at his Lusignan home earlier in the day.

On the day his son Shazam was buried, the elder Mohamed was allowed leave from hospital to attend the funeral. He did so, with the use of a wheel chair and returned to the ward following his son’s burial.

Monday, February 04, 2008